Background information: SGS-THOMSON and the PC

The PC is one of the most important applications for semiconductor products and accounts for 30% of the total semiconductor market, according to figures from Dataquest. The PC market is expected to climb from its 1995 level of 60 million units sold to 136 million by the year 2000. Dataquest estimates this would result in tripling the value of semiconductor sales in PCs.

Microprocessors and memories have traditionally been considered as the most important ICs in a PC, but the growth of the PC outside the corporate market has fueled a demand for ICs other than these two products. In particular, the success of multimedia PCs and the Internet has created a market for ICs dedicated to graphics, sound, video, printing and communication.

As a broad range supplier SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics has a near-complete portfolio of products for the PC - probably larger than any other supplier. SGS-THOMSON offers x86 microprocessors, multimedia accelerators, MPEG decoder ICs, non-volatile memories, microcontrollers for peripherals such as monitors and printers, audio ICs, modem ICs, logic ICs, power controller ICs, and a range of other smaller devices found in the PC like surge suppressors and DC regulators.

"Our chips are used in all of the main functions of a PC, from its brain, i.e., the motherboard, to the most strategic peripheral functions with the greatest growth potential. These peripherals transform a PC with high quality audio and video and hook-up to the Internet," says Andrea Cuomo, vice president, Headquarters Marketing & Corporate Strategic Accounts .

SGS-THOMSON on the motherboard...

SGS-THOMSON's presence encompasses the x86 microprocessor family (CPUs) and EPROMs and FLASH memories for the BIOS (Basic Input-Output System), the machine's basic program, and fast SRAMs for secondary level cache memories.

...in the disk drive...

An asset in SGS-THOMSON's portfolio is BCD (Bipolar + CMOS + DMOS) smart power technology, which customers use to design and produce single circuits to position the read/write heads on the disk and activate the system's various servo-mechanisms. SGS-THOMSON has also made devices for reading and writing data on disk based on BiCMOS. This has attributed to SGS-THOMSON's position as the second largest supplier of ICs for mass storage with a 22% market share. Above all, this technology has enabled SGS-THOMSON to create alliances with two sector giants, Seagate and Western Digital - strategic alliances that will help to further strengthen its position.

...in the monitor...

In addition to a motherboard and data storage, a PC must be equipped with a monitor. SGS-THOMSON is the world's top supplier of devices for horizontal and vertical deflection, i.e., the components that guide the electronic beam that writes and draws on the phosphorus coating of the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube). Equally SGS-THOMSON microcontrollers and EEPROMs can be found behind the screen.

...and for multimedia applications

PC users today want to display photographic quality images, full color video, and high resolution graphics on their monitors. Here too, SGS-THOMSON ICs deliver superlative performance and display moving images of excellent quality. SGS-THOMSON's MPEG components are used by Microsoft to demonstrate the most advanced graphics possible on a PC. Also in collaboration with NVIDIA Corporation (a specialist in designing and developing acceleration technology), SGS-THOMSON has developed the industry's first complete Multimedia Accelerator to accelerate PC graphics and boost video performance.

SGS-THOMSON's lengthy experience in image compression and close cooperation with strategic partners has enabled it to reach a commanding position in the market of image compression ICs. SGS-THOMSON is the world's leading supplier of MPEG decoder ICs with nearly 50% of the world market and more specifically, 71.4% of the MPEG-2 market. As a result of these strengths, SGS-THOSMON is a key supplier to digital set-top box manufacturers and is in a pre-eminent position for emerging PC applications like DVD and satellite reception. Because of the heavy load these applications put on the processor for MPEG-2, it will become necessary to support the processor with hardware such as SGS-THOMSON offers today.

Most recently, Microsoft and SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics announced a strategic relationship to implement a Digital Video Disk (DVD) reference architecture for the PC. This joint effort will develop a standard platform for DVD that optimizes cost, functionality, and performance for the PC user

Simplifying links to networks and the Internet SGS-THOMSON is a leader in analog front end ICs - the functional blocks that enable the digital heart of a PC to interface with the analog telephone line - and is the first to offer a MAFE chip for the forthcoming AC-97 standard. Called the STLC7549, the chip integrates all the analog functions for an advanced multimedia personal computer, including CD-quality audio, telephony, and V.34bis Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data (DSVD) modem. Another SGS-THOMSON star, the ST20 processor, is an excellent "engine" for driving various communication systems on PCs, adapted either to Ethernet LANs (Local Area Networks) or to communications via high speed ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) phone lines.

Looking to the future

The dramatic growth of the multimedia PC and the Internet will create a number of different 'PCs' in the near future. There may no longer be a single type of PC but instead one for the office, one for the home, one for surfing the Internet, and one specialized in multimedia. SGS-THOMSON's broad technology portfolio, combined with its experience acquired in the PC and consumer sectors, positions it to address this trend. Dedicated variants of the x86 are already being developed with customers for low-cost PC entertainment and industrial PC applications.

November 1996

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